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The Samians

Ionian Greeks of the island of Samos, Persian subjects and rebels, about 517-479 BCE

In the game: Level 7: Sardis Burns, Level 11: The Finale, Mycale

The Samians were the Ionian Greeks of Samos, an island off the coast of Asia Minor. Samos came under Persian rule under Darius. Herodotus mentions the Samians at two turning points, Lade in 494 and Mycale in 479, and says a Samian choice mattered at both.

In the game: The game names the Samians in the Chronicle, the decrees and the field briefings, for Lade and Mycale. They have no mechanic of their own beyond what those texts show.

Samos under Persian rule

Ancient account

Herodotus says the tyrant Polycrates of Samos built a large fleet and was lured to the mainland and killed by the Persian governor Oroetes. Later, he says, Syloson, Polycrates' brother, asked Darius for Samos. Otanes conquered the island and installed Syloson as ruler.

Herodotus 3.120-125, 3.139-149

The Samians at Lade

Ancient account

Herodotus says 353 Ionian triremes met a Persian fleet of 600 ships off Lade. The Samian commanders had agreed with the Persians to leave the line. When the fighting began, he says, 49 Samian ships sailed away, and 11 stayed and fought. The Lesbians then followed the Samians and the Ionian fleet broke.

Herodotus 6.8-15

Reliability of the Lade story

Disputed

Herodotus blames the Samian withdrawal for the defeat, though he also says the Ionians were short of discipline. Historians doubt that a single defection decided the battle, and his ship numbers cannot be checked. He says the Samians who stayed were honoured at home, and that Samian sanctuaries were spared by the Persians.

Herodotus 6.13-14, 6.25

Samos after Salamis

Ancient account

Herodotus says Theomestor, a Samian who had served the King at Salamis, was made tyrant of Samos as a reward. Later, he says, Samian exiles came to the Greek fleet at Delos and urged Leotychides to sail east. The Greeks went to Samos, and the Persian fleet withdrew to the mainland.

Herodotus 8.85, 8.130-132

The Samians at Mycale

Ancient account

Herodotus says the Persians beached their ships and built a stockade. Mistrusting the Samians, they took away their arms and sent the Milesians to guard the paths. When the Greeks under Leotychides and Xanthippus attacked, he says, the Samians and other Ionians turned on the Persians, and the ships were burned.

Herodotus 9.96-106

The rumour of Plataea

Disputed

Herodotus says word of the Greek victory at Plataea ran through the army at Mycale before the fighting and lifted the men's spirits. He gives the two battles as on the same day. Historians doubt that news could have crossed the distance so fast, and read the story as shaped to link the victories.

Herodotus 9.100-101